View topic - Kanji levels in games.

by **languagetapes** » Wed 10.20.2010 5:32 am

I'm waiting for the Japanese version of DragonQuest IV to get delivered to my house that I bought from Play Asia. I'm curious to know, before it arrives, what level of Kanji do games like DQ have in them? I've only just started studying Genki book two, so I won't really understand it anyway but I'm hoping that the kanji level is only like elementary school level. Does anybody know?

by **furrykef** » Wed 10.20.2010 7:48 am

Games after the 8-bit era (which used little to no kanji) are quite variable. For example, Pokemon didn't get kanji until Pokemon Black and White, which just came out. DQ 4 was an NES game, so it likely had no (or almost no) kanji in its original incarnation, but they may well have been added in the remake. In that case, knowing the type of game wouldn't really be enough to know what to expect; you'd have to look at screenshots or ask somebody who's played it.

by **spin13** » Wed 10.20.2010 10:08 am

furrykef wrote:DQ 4 was an NES game, so it likely had no (or almost no) kanji in its original incarnation, but they may well have been added in the remake.

The DS Dragon Quest remakes (4 through 6) all use kanji. Dragon Quest 9 uses kanji but includes full furigana, though most games (that I have played) don't.